A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine their level of explicitness, one of the criteria used to determine the "friendliness" or comprehensibility of a text. Researchers randomly selected three samples--usually chapters--from each of the 12 textbooks. The Explication Inventory…

Examines the effect of metadiscourse characteristics (attitudinal, voice, and informational) and level of test anxiety on students' learning from social studies textbooks. Finds high anxious students perform best with first person voice and no attitudinal metadiscourse while low anxious students showed the opposite effect. (RS)

Investigates the effects of an experimental set of reading lessons focusing on strategies applied to social studies textbook material. Finds that, in three of four comparisons, students receiving weekly strategy lessons were better at summarizing social studies material than were control subjects. Finds no differences between groups in terms of…

Investigates effects of topic interest, writing ability, and summarization training on seventh-grade subjects' performance on multiple-choice tests and ability to summarize a social studies text. Finds that multiple-choice and summarization measures overlap little in the kinds of text comprehension they assess. (RS)

Compares the effects of utilizing children's books incorporated into a themed literature unit with the effects of using a textbook in an elementary social studies class. Finds that students taught using the themed unit showed significant gains compared to the group taught with the textbook and that the subjects using the themed unit reacted…

A study provided students with relevant background knowledge and tested the effects of this knowledge on two versions of a text. The two text versions were four original segments of text from a fifth-grade social studies textbook about the period leading to the American Revolution and their revised versions from an article in "Reading…

Examines comprehension of students provided with relevant background knowledge and then tested on two versions of a text. Finds that students who read the revised text recalled significantly more material and answered more questions correctly than students who read the original text. Discusses the importance of the teacher's role in mediating…

A study compared test scores of students instructed to use graphic organizers while reading social studies content material with those of students not using the strategy. Subjects, students in two fourth-grade classes in a primarily middle class, suburban community, studied two chapters from a social studies textbook and completed chapter tests…

Concludes that elementary school students had difficulty understanding main ideas of social studies passages and were significantly less skilled at this task than at completing main idea workshops. Suggests that the worksheet approach to social studies is insufficient and that direct instruction using textbooks is needed. (FL)

Examines how much and what kind of reading comprehension instruction is provided in the student textbooks and teachers' editions of five social studies programs at the fourth- and sixth-grade levels. Concludes, among other findings, that direct instruction in skills is rare. (HOD)

Reports the results of a study designed to determine the extent to which fourth-grade students had difficulty answering literal comprehension questions. Suggests that expository passages of social studies content are more difficult to comprehend than narrative passages. (AEA)

Concludes that round robin reading is an accepted and widely used method of teaching science and social studies in the fifth grade in South Dakota, in spite of the fact that administrators and teachers doubt its value. (FL)

Determines how science and social studies textbooks were used by teachers and students in 12 fourth grade lessons and what kinds of questions the teachers asked during the lessons. Finds that students do not get much practice reading informational text, and instruction often fails to promote conceptual understanding and meaningful learning from…

A study examined the effects of "round robin reading" (RRR) as an instructional procedure in social studies. Specifically, the study asked whether an oral textbook presentation had a significant effect on learning social studies material and if grade level, reading level, social studies knowledge, and gender significantly affected the…